How Things End
by Arcane Testament
Summary: Harry has just defeated Lord Voldemort.  Now, he has to deal with everything to come.  A short oneshot following up the events at the end of The Deathly Hallows.  HarryGinny RonHermione.


_A/N: Yay! My first Fanfic. Ever. Anyway, this is basically what I thought should have gone after the last chapter of The Deathly Hallows. It's a short, fluffy one-shot. Read! Rate! Review! Enjoy!_

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Walking to the Great Hall, Harry felt more relief than he had ever felt. For the first time in his life, he didn't have to worry about anything. With Voldemort gone, and the Elder Wand ready to be placed back with Dumbledore's body, Harry no longer had a task ahead of him. And it felt good.

Unfortunately, he was knocked to his senses with the realization of the loose ends he still had to tie up. His quest would never be finished unless people knew the truth. He, Ron, and Hermione entered the Hall together, side by side. As the large doors creaked open, a roar of celebration and remorse met his ears. Looking to the table he had left, Harry began to walk forward. He stopped short by two tables, staring into the most beautiful brown eyes he had ever seen.

Ginny Weasley wasn't surprised to see Harry Potter slowly walking towards her table. As he stopped in front of her, she knew it was time. Time to talk; time to find out everything that had happened in the past year; time to forgive. At least, that was her hope. She hoped that she could forgive Harry for leaving here at Dumbledore's funeral. Hopefully, she thought, if he didn't want the kind of relationship she had so desired most of her life, they could still be able to make up. She got up slowly, never breaking eye contact. Harry gestured towards the door the Hall.

"I think we need to talk"

Ginny walked around the table and followed Harry as they both left the Hall, walking into the courtyard that had been so infamous during the Yule Ball four years ago. Harry stopped in the middle of the courtyard, and looked around to make sure no one was around.

"Ginny, I need to explain some things. A lot of things, really. I -"

"Listen Harry, you don't need to apologize. I realize what you were doing. It was all to defeat Voldemort. I get it." Ginny's tone was pointed.

"No, Ginny, listen." Harry felt a warmth in his stomach. He felt loose and calm. "I'm not going to cover everything up with a tale of my adventures this past year. I plan to tell everyone exactly what happened shortly. There's only one thing I need to tell you, Ginny."

Ginny's eyes stared deeply, intently into Harry's. She seemed to be melting slowly, in realization of what was to come next.

"From the moment I broke up with you, last year, I've regretted it. There hasn't been a moment since that funeral that I wish I could just Apparate into the Burrow and take you into my arms, and just stay there. Ginny, you must understand, if Voldemort found out about us, he would have..." Harry began to feel his throat go dry. Even the thought of Ginny's being hurt by Voldemort made him feel a deep rage inside. "I don't want you to think that I didn't care. Because I did. I do. More than you know. I've said before that I don't want anyone I care about to be hurt because of Voldemort. Of course, I mean that, I just... I love you too much to even have given Voldemort the chance at you."

"What did you say?" Ginny asked in barely a whisper.

"I... I love you, Ginny," Harry's hand slowly reached to touch Ginny's cheek. His finger was met with a single tear.

"I love you too, Harry." She wiped her eyes, then reached up and wrapped her arms around Harry's neck, pulling him into the most meaningful embrace either of them could muster.

"Aww!" Came a voice from the doorway. Hermione and Ron had appeared, listening in on the whole conversation.

"It's about bloody time!" Ron called.

Hermione pushed his face jokingly "Oh and you have room to talk!"

"Well, if you hadn't noticed, what between being so brilliant and all, I've been trying to snog you since fourth year!" Ron wrapped his arms around Hermione's waist. She pushed his chest with her hand, forcing him to take a step back.

"Snog? Is that all you wanted? Really? And I thought I meant something to you Ronald Weasley!"

Harry and Ginny had looked up at this point. They both had faces of disbelief and obvious amusement as they watched the other couple bicker.

"Well, what I meant to say was -" Hermione cut him off with a deep, passionate kiss. They lingered for a while, lost in each other. After they parted, Ron looked taken aback.

"There's your snog, Mr. Weasley." Said Hermione as she broke Ron's grip, walking briskly into the Great Hall.

"She's in love with me." Ron said, rushing after her.

Harry and Ginny watched Ron leave then turned to each other and broke out in laughter. They didn't stop laughing for what seemed like hours. The sun was slowly climbing to mid-day and the party inside was nowhere near an end.

"Well, we better go back inside." Harry said, not really wanting to move from that spot.

"Yeah..." Ginny replied lazily, obviously not wishing to leave either. They both looked at each other, then Harry bent down slowly and brushed his lips with Ginny's. She returned by reaching up and pushing his head closer, deepening the kiss. The passionate, yet tender kiss expressed everything they had felt in the last year. Love, fear, excitement, longing, all in one kiss.

Just then, a loud uproar of cheers and cries broke out from the Great Hall. Harry looked up, as Ginny turned. They both ran into the Hall to see Kingsley Shacklebolt, Acting Minister of Magic, standing at the ornate podium in the back of the hall. To his sides, at the teachers' table were Arthur, Molly, George, Percy, Bill, and Charlie Weasley, Professor McGonagall, Hagrid, Hermione and Ron, both of the latter had taken up two of the four empty chairs on the end. Harry and Ginny made their way up the Hall and took up the two empty seats as Kingsley spoke.

"My magical friends, today rises as the first day of many without the shadow of the Dark Lord cast over us. All of you wonderful souls, students of Hogwarts or otherwise, have helped to overcome the darkest moment in wizarding history. As of last night, the reign of Voldemort is at an end. And we have all of you to thank.

"Many of you would like to claim that Harry Potter was the one that really finished off the Dark Lord, however I can tell you that is not entirely true. Yes, it was by Harry's hand that Voldemort had fallen, but if it had not been for your bravery against the Death Eaters, Harry would have not had that chance.

"Today is a day for celebration. But also for mourning. This battle has had many casualties. All of which will be forever remembered as the greatest wizards and witches to ever take up a wand. They are hereby given the highest gratitude that the Ministry, Hogwarts, the Order of the Phoenix - "

"And Dumbledore's Army!" Neville shouted from his seat, thrusting the sword of Godric Gryffindor in the air.

"Yes, of course, Dumbledore's Army, and the entire magical community, for their bravery and sacrifice.'" At this point a roar of clapping and cheering filled the room.

"Now, to finish matters so that we may all get back to the celebration, I give you your champion, your hero, Harry Potter!" Kingsley stepped aside and Harry stood up. He wasn't expecting to give a speech, although he knew what he had to tell them.

"Hello, everyone! I'm not much of a speaker, especially as this speech has come to a surprise to me," Harry shot a glance to the grinning Kingsley, "But I do have a few things to say. First, thank you. Thank you to everyone who stood up and fought with me against Voldemort." Another round of applause erupted. "You have made this possible. As a thanks, I have something to tell you. Something I feel all of you should know." Now everyone was silent. "The reason that things happened the way they did..."

Harry told them everything. Starting with the Horcruxes and the mission Dumbledore gave him. Then, he told them of his encounter with Voldemort in the Forbidden Forest. How he had been hit with a Killing Curse, and how he eventually awoke, finding that he wasn't dead.

"That's it. The adventure of Harry Potter. To be honest, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I put all of you through this dreadful night." Harry looked out and met with every eye in the crowd. He looked "I'm sorry. And thank you for still sticking by me." He shot a glance to his left, where his two best friends and the girl of his dreams sat beaming at him. "I would also like, if the Minister doesn't object, to retrieve the body of Severus Snape from the Shrieking Shack and place it amongst those to be honored." People gasped. There were cries of "Is he off is knocker?" and "Snape's evil!" and "He better have a good reason..."

"Severus Snape," He continued, "Was one of the bravest men I have ever known. He secretly worked with Dumbledore, making this entire operation possible. On his dying breath, he gave me the secret to killing Voldemort. He saved us all." Harry then stepped back and returned to his seat. He got smiles from Hermione and Ginny and a pat on the back from Ron. A few hushed words were shared between Professor McGonagall and Kingsley, then the Professor walked quietly out of the Great Hall.

The rest of the day was a mix of celebration and grief. While everyone was relieved and generally ecstatic about Voldemort's defeat, they all felt the loss that came with it. The Weasleys weren't taking the loss of Fred well. Mrs. Weasley and George hadn't said a word since they found out. Percy kept blaming himself while Bill and Charlie were trying to comfort all of them. Mr. Weasley seemed almost unaffected, as he continued discussing the state of the Ministry with Kingsley. Ron was attempting to celebrate with the rest of them, laughing and talking with everyone, but Harry could see that he was wearing the saddest look Harry had ever seen in him.

A short while after Harry's speech, everyone was eating a bountiful feast prepared by the school's House Elf chefs. Harry looked around the table before he began to eat. Ron, Hermione, Neville, Ginny, and Luna were sitting around him, all digging madly into their food. Harry saw Ron laugh as Neville dropped his entire mashed potato into his lap. Then, Ron became dead silent as George passed by in front of him. For a few minutes afterwards, he didn't touch his food, but just stared blankly at his plate. Harry heard a sigh, then Hermione stood up, took Ron by the arm, and dragged him out of the Hall and into the courtyard. Harry watched, then turned, his eyes meeting Ginny's.

Her eyes were clear, but a single tear clung to her eyelash, a remnant from a cry that was fought back. Ginny smiled at Harry then returned to eating. He thought the full effect of Fred's death hadn't hit her yet, and it seemed like he was right. Harry knew that once the fact had caught up with her, she wasn't going to be able to hold it in. Ginny was a strong girl, perhaps that's why he was so enamored by her. She was so strong, she hadn't cried at all since Voldemort died. But even she had to have her breaking point.

"So is it going to open back up?" Neville asked. It was several hours later and Harry had just had a long conversation with Mr. Weasley, Kingsley, and Professor McGonagall about the state of Hogwarts.

"At this point, it's up to the parents." Harry replied, exhausted. He plopped down on the bench of the Gryffindor table next to Ginny and Ron. "Professor McGonagall has sent owls to all the students' parents. She's explained the situation and asked whether or not they'd want to come back."

"So basically, if a bunch of people said 'yes', the school would open back up?." Ron asked. He was greatly improved from earlier. Harry figured that whatever Hermione had said - or done - to him in the courtyard had lifted him up out of his stink about Fred.

"That's the idea Ronald." Hermione answered in one of her "it's blatantly obvious" tones. Ron made a bad attempt at acting hurt.

"Well, I'm coming back." Ginny added.

"So what about us?" Ron looked at Harry.

"Well, I guess now we have to find jobs."

"Actually, first I've got to find my parents," Hermione jumped in, "They're in Australia, remember?"

"That's right." Harry remembered how Hermione had told them that she used a Memory Charm on her parents and sent them to live in Australia to keep them from Voldemort.

"Well, while she goes and does that, why don't you come back to the Burrow with us for the summer, Harry?" Ron's suggestion was exactly what Harry was thinking. There was nothing more that he'd wanted at that moment than to spend another summer at the Burrow, with everyone he loved.

"Not to mention," Ginny said, interrupting his thoughts, "When Hogwarts does open up, I won't get to see you again for a while."

"Well there is Christmas..."

"Do you think I'm going to wait until Christmas to see you again? What, with you running around who knows where, attracting all kinds of... of... of veelas and God knows what else?"

Everyone began to laugh. Ron's ears turned red. Harry tried to fight back with "We did go over this last year..." But he knew he had lost. Ginny had a huge grin on her face as Harry turned to her. Her eyes sparkled and went away as she closed them, as she leaned in and kissed him quickly and softly. Yeah, Harry was definitely going back to the Burrow. For as long as possible.

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_A/N: And there you have it. Let me know what you thought! _


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